Each day in November—leading up to next week’s winter meetings—Sporting News has analyzed the offseason to-do list of a major league team. The final installment: the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Following a 94-win season that resulted in an NL West title in 2011, the Diamondbacks were a trendy World Series pick. But instead of taking that next forward in 2012, the team took several steps backward. The Diamondbacks never had an extended run of success (their longest winning streak was five games) and were the definition of mediocrity in an 81-81 season.

OFFSEASON AGENDA

The team doesn't have many glaring needs, though it would like to upgrade at shortstop or third base.

Cliff Pennington, acquired in the three-team deal that sent center fielder Chris Young to the Oakland A's in late October, is atop the depth chart at short. However, he hit an uninspiring .215 last season and isn't a standout defensively. Third baseman Chris Johnson hit well after being acquired from the Houston Astros in July, but he isn't a proven commodity.

In that same three-team trade, the Diamondbacks picked up Heath Bell for their bullpen. Bell had a miserable season with the Miami Marlins in 2012 but led the majors in saves (132) from 2009-11 with a 2.36 ERA for the San Diego Padres. Bell will serve as a setup man to closer J.J. Putz in Arizona, which already had a solid relief corps (3.24 ERA in 2012). Also added to the bullpen: lefthander Matt Reynolds in a trade with the Colorado Rockies.

POSSIBLE DEPARTURES

The million-dollar question heading into Dec. 3-5's winter meetings is whether right fielder Justin Upton will be moved. Upton's name has been thrown around in rumors for the past two years, and not even the trade of Young will change that.

The question remains the same about Upton: Is the team willing to part with a five-tool talent, albeit one that has been plagued by inconsistency while being burdened with largely unrealistic expectations? That will depend on what the Diamondbacks can get in return for a 25-year-old superstar who is under team control (at a reasonable price) through the 2015 season.

"There are people that check in and ask about him, come up with ideas, but there hasn't been anything that has really caught my attention and I think made us a better team," general manager Kevin Towers told the team’s website. "So I can't predict what's going to happen (at the winter meetings) in Nashville, but going into Nashville we're not any closer to moving him than we were at the GM meetings."

Among other free agents, catcher Henry Blanco and reliever Matt Lindstrom will test the market and likely will land elsewhere.

EARLY 2013 OUTLOOK

The Diamondbacks went 12-6 against the Los Angeles Dodgers and 9-9 against the San Francisco Giants this past season but are clearly a notch below both in the NL West. A second consecutive third-place finish is likely, though the San Diego Padres are a threat to leapfrog Arizona in the standings.